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Rove’s Groups Spend Millions on Senate Ads

Karl Rove is making another big investment in the 2010 midterm elections.

The conservative American Crossroads and its related advocacy group, Crossroads GPS — both brainchildren of Mr. Rove and the Republican strategist Ed Gillespie — announced a nearly $4.25 million nationwide advertising campaign today in eight crucial Senate races.

The blitz began today and will last for a week, with ads running on network affiliates in Senate battleground states. American Crossroads, which is required to disclose its donors, is going live in Colorado against Senator Michael Bennet with a $770,000 buy, and is also showing ads against Harry Reid in Nevada, in both Reno and Las Vegas, for $350,000.

Crossroads GPS, a spinoff group incorporated under 501(c)4, is required to spend the majority of its money on issues but does not need to disclose its donors. It is running ads in Florida ($350,000), Illinois ($1,070,000), Kentucky ($310,000), Missouri $315,000), Pennsylvania ($300,000) and Washington ($780,000).

Though the buy itself is new, it will feature a combination of new ads and enhanced rotations of existing spots. The first two new spots went live today, in Colorado and Florida.

Last week alone, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonprofit site that monitors spending in politics, the conservative groups spent more than $3.4 million on everything from mailers to television spots, including $720,000 against Mr. Bennet and $600,000 against Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Illinois, who is running for the seat once held by President Obama.

The Colorado ad attacks Mr. Bennet directly for a deal he made with JPMorgan Chase while he was running the Denver school system. “He gambled with our teachers’ retirements,” the 30-second spot begins. “Facing a $400 million shortfall, Denver school superintendent Michael Bennet pushed the school board into a risky deal with Wall Street bankers. The result? Millions lost.”

The Florida spot, meanwhile, never even mentions Representative Kendrick B. Meek, the Democratic nominee for Senate, but opens with images of Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent, and Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee, as narrator states: “The choice is clear.”
“Florida needs a strong leader to put a check on Obama’s agenda,” the ad concludes. “That’s Marco Rubio.”

This week is a particularly heavy week for advertising buys, as the election nears, and a spokesperson for Crossroads GPS said the group was hoping to get the attention of potential voters.

“As voters are paying more attention to the specific races this election cycle, it’s crucial to educate them about the fiscally irresponsible positions many of these Democrats are taking,” said Jonathan Collegio, the communications director for the group.

Today, two campaign finance watchdog organizations sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service, requesting that they investigate Crossroads GPS for potentially violating federal tax laws. As a nonprofit, the group’s primary purpose is not supposed to be political, but as the largest third-party player on television in Senate races across the country over the last two months, the organization has come under scrutiny.

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